TCTA
Twin Cities Transit Authority *'Headquarters: '''New Norwest Center, downtown Minneapolis *'Current Head: 'Executive Vice President Duncan Beckly , Evo-4M If you already live here, feel free to skip this first section because you already know it. The TCTA is just one of those facts of life in the Twin Cities. Because they own the roads. All of them. Every street and boulevard and in Minneapolis or Saint Paul, along with every road in and out of the cities. Most of us know them mostly from those damn micropayments our license gets charged every time we pull out of our driveways (and to think, my grandfather used to complain bitterly about the old toll booths). Even with their responsibility to keep the roads in repair, they have been a consistent money-maker for whoever has owned the company. ''Yeah, I’m sure they’re profitable with all the money they’re NOT spending on street repairs. The state of disrepair the Twin Cities’ streets on in is a running joke here. No. Really. You can’t seem to go to a comedy show here without them starting off with some gag about how bad the roads are, despite the fact that half of them are closed during the summer. -GWN Hey, even the roads aren’t immune to how no heev it gets up here. I’d explain how potholes are formed, but lub sij hawm yog nyiaj. - Ginebig What a lot of people don’t know is how deep the TCTA’s relationship with the City goes. Protected by law, the State of Minnesota is actually obligated to prop up the TCTA in times of crisis as the corporation has been determined to be “a vital component of the defense of the metroplex”. And we’re not just talking about those big, old-fashioned gun emplacements on the fortified sound walls left over from the fifties that they’ve got up at all the big on-ramps. The TCTA maintains the largest, most complete surveillance system in the plex, and can track, at any moment, the location of every registered vehicle RFID in the Twin Cities. That’s why their well-being obsesses the Big Wheels. Not that any runner would be dumb enough to keep the original tag in their ride. Well no living runner anyway :P -SaxonViolins Fun fact, the TCTA’s authority only extends as far as city limits. Two other old 4M divisions own the highways after that, North Central Roads from Minneapolis and Great Lakes Transportation from Saint Paul, and there’s a low-level rivalry between them that can be exploited to shake pursuit if you know what you’re doing. Mostly on account of the TCTA contracts security with Knight Errant and NCR uses Borderlands Security , which is a SK subsidiary. -Road Hog Some chance! Last Rigger we had tried that, ended up a dark spot on the walls at the I-94 entrance ramp. -Tsov Tom I said if you know what you’re doing. Next time you pull a job, call a real Rigger. Hell, drop me a line if it’s worth it. -Road Hog Gee, this sounds like it would make smuggling tough once you hit the streets. Unless… - Ginebig Twin Cities Transit Authority Inc was formed in the early 2040’s from a leveraged buyout of the Minnesota Department of Transportation by the 4M corporation, the deal was brokered by legendary Minnesota Governor Margaret Dennison, a former CEO of 4M herself. The TCTA was the flagship division of the new project. Over the next twenty years, the TCTA went about acquiring rights to maintain and charge for all the roads of the MSP Metroplex. When 4M was acquired by Evo and retooled as Evo Midwest, the TCTA was made a part of the new branch of the AAA Megacorp. There’s been a pretty smooth transition and Evo has made a point of leaving profitable divisions relatively intact, so the TCTA hasn’t felt much impact except in who they take their pay from. Before the takeover, 4M maintained close ties with both Ares Motors and Knight Errant security, which holds the contract to enforce the TCTA’s traffic policies. The business sites have been making a big deal out of the TCTA’s new ‘Friendly Green’ standards (part of Evo’s ongoing ‘Greening’ process) forcing Ares Motors to refit a whole bunch of their Ford and GM products to be street legal in the Twin Cities. No word yet on how this will effect their contract with Knight Errant. So, wait, let me get this straight. Evo owns the roads but Ares patrols them? Oh, this should be good… -Just Asking Return to: Wirefrog's Guide to the MSPlex Category:MSPlex Category:Business